Terms of Service

Effective 2026-07-02. Last updated 2026-07-03.

These terms govern your use of Muddy Boots, a workspace for a specific hiking group, served at muddyboots.app and at muddyboots.anandalmal.com. By signing in with Google and using the app, you agree to these terms. If you don't, please don't use the app.

What Muddy Boots is

Muddy Boots is a personal project run by Anand Almal — not a commercial service. It exists to serve one specific hiking group. There are two levels of access: visitors (anyone signed in with Google) can browse the app, and members (a smaller operator-maintained allowlist) can additionally contribute — add trails, log activities, plan trips, chat in the Lounge, and use the built-in AI assistant. There is no fee to use it, no paid features, and no advertising.

Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old.
You must have a Google account you own to sign in.
Visitor privileges are available to any signed-in Google account.
Member privileges (contributing content) require the operator to add your email to the roster. Email hello@muddyboots.app to request membership.

Your account

You are responsible for keeping your Google account secure. If someone else can sign into your Google account, they can sign into Muddy Boots as you.
One person, one account. Don't share your account or sign in as someone else.
If you no longer want an account, email hello@muddyboots.app and we'll deactivate it.

What you can do with the app

You may use the app to plan hikes with your group, log activities you completed, chat with other members in the Lounge, save trails to a shared library, and ask the built-in AI assistant hiking-related questions. Anything else — reverse-engineering, scraping, running load tests, using the app to send messages to people not on the allowlist, etc. — is not allowed.

Specifically, you agree not to:

Use the app for anything unlawful, harmful, threatening, discriminatory, or harassing.
Attempt to access data belonging to other groups or other members' private profile fields you weren't shown.
Attempt to bypass the member allowlist or authentication.
Attempt to disrupt the app or its infrastructure (DoS, injection attacks, etc.).
Copy, sell, or redistribute the app, its data, or its source code without permission.
Impersonate other members or misrepresent your identity.
Use automated tools (scrapers, bots, scripted requests) against the app, except for tools you write for your own personal use with your own account.

Content you post

You keep ownership of trip proposals, trail entries, activity logs, Lounge messages, and any other content you contribute.
By posting content in the app you grant the operator a limited license to store it, display it to other members of your group, and back it up. This license ends when you request deletion of your account.
You are responsible for the content you post. Don't post anything you don't have the right to post — including photos where subjects haven't consented, copyrighted material you don't own, or personal information about people who aren't in the group.

AI assistant (MB Assistant)

The MB Assistant is powered by Claude, an AI model from Anthropic PBC. It can be wrong. Do not rely on it for safety-critical decisions — verify weather, permit, trail condition, and closure information against official sources before you go hike. The assistant may occasionally answer confidently with incorrect information; treat its responses as a starting point, not the final word.

Your prompts and the group data the assistant reads to answer them are sent to Anthropic's API for processing. See the Privacy Policy for details.

Third-party integrations

The app integrates with third-party services (Strava, Google, and the public NPS, Recreation.gov, and Open-Meteo APIs). Those services have their own terms and privacy policies which govern your use of them independently. Muddy Boots is not responsible for their outages, data handling, or changes to their terms.

Availability

We run this app on a best-effort basis. It may be slow, down, buggy, or change without notice. There is no guaranteed uptime or SLA. If a feature breaks, tell us and we'll try to fix it, but there is no promise of when.

Termination

The operator may suspend or terminate your access at any time — for example, if you're removed from the group's allowlist, if you violate these terms, or if the project shuts down. You can stop using the app at any time.

Upon termination, your right to access the app ends, but the sections of these terms that by their nature should survive (Content you post, Disclaimers, Limitation of liability, Governing law) will survive.

Changes to these terms

If we update these terms, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top. Material changes will be communicated by email before they take effect. Continued use after an update means you accept the updated terms.

Disclaimers

The app is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied. To the fullest extent allowed by law, we disclaim all warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

Hiking is inherently dangerous. The trail data, weather forecasts, park alerts, and assistant answers are for planning convenience only, not a substitute for your own judgment, current-conditions research, and appropriate skills and equipment. You hike at your own risk. The operator is not responsible for injuries, illness, property damage, or losses of any kind that happen on trips you plan or log through the app.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent allowed by law, the operator's total liability arising from your use of the app is limited to $100 USD.

Indemnification

You agree to defend and indemnify the operator against claims arising from content you post, your use of the app, or your violation of these terms.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, USA. Disputes will be resolved in the state or federal courts of Santa Clara County, California.

Contact

Anand Almal hello@muddyboots.app